


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by jane_x80



Category: NCIS
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Christmas Party, Damsels in Distress, First Kiss, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 12:38:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: Tony just wants to have a nice time at the NCIS Holiday Party, especially since he's starving and the buffet table is really amazing. But Ziva and Jenny have other plans for him.ForDay 11 of the Happy Holidays Challenge on LiveJournal, the theme is Holiday Party. A story inspired by Red_Pink_Dots' artwork.





	The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Art for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934188) by [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots). 



> This is the fourth of the stories that [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots) and I worked together to create. And this one, seriously, was all her, when she suggested the picture that is in the cover art as the prompt for this fic. The plot of the story came together pretty quickly after the picture, and we discussed it quite a bit (and gleefully!), and here, now are the results of our collaboration! And yes, there's a plot here and not just one scene like our other Holiday works so far.

[](https://i.imgur.com/JNEEatp.png)

It was that most wonderful time of year again, and even though Tony DiNozzo studiously ignored any and all children that might be a-jingle belling, he was definitely filled with good cheer. Especially that night, at the annual NCIS Holiday Party, hosted by Director Shepard. Tony DiNozzo was an immensely social man so he definitely enjoyed the whole shebang, and Shepard hadn’t spared any expense. It was actually real alcohol being served, champagne, wine and beer, and she had actually splurged for excellent food. Say what you will about the Director, but she did know how to throw a party. The hor d’oeuvres were amazing. Tony had been happily stuffing himself with these little shrimp puffs that were the most delectable and creamy mouthfuls that he had eaten in a long time. And it probably also didn’t help that he hadn’t eaten in a long time because, of course, Gibbs had had him and the entire MCRT chasing down some criminal or other for days without stopping. Luckily for Gibbs, they had solved the case earlier that day, and even Gibbs had realized that the team was at the end of their tethers. If he had forced them to stay late to write their reports instead of releasing them to go to the holiday party that was in full force, he knew that Tony wouldn’t be the only one walking out on him, no matter the consequences.

So there was Tony, taking carefully measured sips of his real alcoholic champagne, and eating his first meal in probably close to twenty four hours, ensuring that he filled his belly first before indulging in the champagne because well, at his very first Christmas Party (they had been called Christmas Parties back then) with Peoria PD, he had made the very bad mistake of getting way too drunk at the party and making a complete and utter ass of himself. The rest of his department hadn’t allowed him to forget it, and even when they threw a farewell party for him upon his transfer to the Philly PD, there were huge blown up copies of his bare ass on display. Yes. He had been so drunk he’d sat on the copier and allowed his partner – damn him to hell, which reminded Tony, he needed to call Miller and have their annual Christmas chat – to photocopy his ass. In color. Multiple copies of said pictures had been posted all over the precinct the very next day, and they’d dug it out and plastered copies of the pictures all over his Good Luck banner when he was leaving. Hell, he probably had a copy of said ass picture somewhere in his boxes and if not, there was always a chance that Miller might send him one as a Christmas card.

Another lesson he’d learned about holiday parties was to stay far, far away from the mistletoe. And that lesson he’d learned way back, from the parties his long deceased mother used to throw, but that was a story for another day.

So having learned this particular lesson – to never trust a law enforcement officer, especially at a holiday party and especially when alcohol was involved – Tony never ever got drunk at a holiday party ever again. So he was minding his own business and grazing – moving from the shrimp puffs to the caramelized onion tartlets, to the prosciutto wrapped figs (holy cow, Tony couldn’t believe there were prosciutto wrapped figs at the NCIS Holiday Party! Morrow’s parties had involved a lot less fancy food, that was for sure), to some kind of tuna tartare on a crostini, and all kinds of other mouth watering little morsels of food. Tony was incredibly happy with the spread, and was focused on eating and daintily slipping little bits of food into his mouth. He was still nursing his first glass of champagne and so was most definitely in complete control of his faculties when Ziva came barreling into him, and grabbing hold of his arm.

“Zee-vah!” he grinned at his teammate, as he plopped another hor d’oeuvre into his mouth. This time it might be some kind of beef empanadita thing.

“Tonyyyyy!” Tony flinched away from Ziva’s alcohol laden breath but her hold on his bicep was tight and she started dragging him away from the buffet table.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Tony objected, digging in his heels. “I’m starving and this food is fucking amazing!”

“We need you to settle a bet that we have,” Ziva pouted.

“What bet? And with who?”

“With Jenny!”

“Unh-unh, whatever bet you ladies have that’s your business,” Tony shook his head. “I’m just here for the food, OK?”

“Tony, you will come with me or the Director will order you to!” Ziva pouted.

“Wait, wait,” he pulled away from Ziva and hastily filled his plate. “Just, let me bring some of this with me because I haven’t eaten in a day and I swear to god I will start gnawing on your fingers if you do not let me eat something,” Tony growled at her when she tried to yank him away from the table again.

Ziva raised her hand and stepped away. “Do not resort to cannibalism, my dear little hairy butt,” she grinned mockingly. “I will await your pleasure.”

Tony gave her the finger, finished piling food on his plate and then allowed himself to be dragged away from the table, although he kept looking back at the dwindling piles of food longingly. He’d abandoned the champagne, but was holding tight to his plate of food as Ziva dragged him over to where Director Shepard was standing.

“Agent DiNozzo,” Jenny said silkily, her mouth quirking into a seductive smile. It made shivers go down Tony’s spine and not the good kind of shivers. Dread went through Tony immediately. Whenever Jenny had that look on her face, it meant Tony was in deep shit. See: the whole La Grenouille fiasco. She’d never even reimbursed him for his car being blown up. Tony suppressed a shudder when Jenny’s smile widened. “Tony…”

“Uh, hi, Director,” he stuffed a mini crabcake into his mouth. “Amazing spread,” he told her, speaking with his mouth full. Time to head whatever the hell this was off at the pass and women tended to get turned off when he did things that were uncouth like speaking with his mouth full. Deliberately, he stuffed another crabcake into his mouth.

“Thank you. Only the best for my best agents,” Shepard nodded. “And besides, haven’t we had this conversation before? I’m Jenny.”

“Ri-i-ight,” Tony dragged the word out, ensuring that both Jenny and Ziva could see the half masticated food in his mouth. Better to include Ziva in this whole thing since she seemed to already be three sheets to the wind. Although with her, it was sometimes hard to tell as she was a good little actress and could act drunk without actually being drunk. “Nice party, _Jenny_ ,” he placed emphasis on the director’s first name.

She simpered, her smile turning flirtatious. “We have a bet, Ziva and I.”

“So I hear.”

“The bet is that you, as our resident NCIS Lothario,” Jenny began.

“Lothario?” Tony sputtered. “I don’t think I like the sound of that!”

“Hush,” Ziva put a finger on Tony’s lips. “Listen.”

“You, as our resident NCIS Lothario,” Jenny began again, “will tell us, whether you find Ziva or me more desirable.”

“Uhhhh…” Tony’s eyes were wide with panic, Ziva’s finger still on his lips, and she cocked a hand on her hip, striking a seductive pose, shoulders back, perky breasts out.

“Of course, _I_ am more desirable,” Ziva said in a low voice, and Tony truly thought he could get drunk off the contact high from the alcohol on Ziva’s breath.

“I feel that I, despite being perhaps a few short years older than Ziva, would be the one you would find more desirable,” Jenny kept her voice low, as she took the plate of food out of Tony’s suddenly numb fingers and slid her body right up against his back. Even though she was behind him, Tony could smell the alcohol coming off of her as well. They were both drunk!

“Ladies, I think that your judgment is impaired tonight,” Tony babbled nervously as he felt Jenny’s – Director Shepard’s – hands now groping his admittedly rather pert ass. “And not just on champagne and wine.”

“We might have indulged in a little grappa that Jenny had in her office,” Ziva said, keeping her voice a low, seductive purr as she stepped in and rubbed her breasts on Tony’s front. “But we are not impaired.”

“I’m guessing when you say you indulged in a _little_ grappa, you’re probably telling me that there’s only a little tiny bit of grappa left in the bottle now, right?” Tony tried to gently push Jenny’s hand off his ass. “Ladies, seriously, I think I’m just going to go now, OK?” He tried to step away, but both women plastered themselves onto him, Jenny on his back, Ziva on his front. “Please? Please please please. Please, I just want to eat a little food and go home and sleep for a week, and pretend like this never happened. Please? Please, let me go. Hey, I bet I know how we can decide who’s more desirable?”

“How, Tony?” both women cooed in unison.

Tony swallowed nervously, and kept trying to swat Jenny’s hand away from his ass cheeks. She was seriously feeling him up. “Umm, by letting me go so I can ummm… gaze at you from afar to uh, make my decision. Like from the buffet table. I can see you quite clearly from there and I’ll think about it and eat my food and then I’ll tell you my answer after that?”

“I believe he is trying to escape us, Jenny,” Ziva purred, blowing a hot, alcohol-laden breath on Tony’s neck, making him take an involuntary step backwards and accidentally brushing back against Jenny. Jenny put one arm around his waist and squeezed his ass cheek with her other hand, which made him jump forward into Ziva’s clutches.

“Oh! Oh!” Tony couldn’t help but cry out when Ziva tweaked a nipple, and both of Jenny’s hands squeezed his ass. “Oh my god! OK! No! No! This is enough, stop!” he hissed and squeaked when one of Ziva’s hands cupped his dick and began stimulating him through his pants. “No, no, no, no, no,” he pulled Ziva’s hand away and suddenly he realized that the time when he was seven under the mistletoe at his mother’s Christmas party had only been a precursor to this. “Stop. Come on. Stop. Please stop. Ladies! No!”

“His mouth says no, but I think his eyes are begging for more,” Ziva’s eyes glittered, her expression naughty as she kept trying to move her hand back onto Tony’s cock.

Tony was in full blown panic mode – he couldn’t shake either woman off because Ziva was actually inordinately strong and way too close to his dick for comfort, and well, Shepard was his boss’s boss. And this was right in public and given his Lothario-like reputation people would obviously immediately assume that he was the one giving out the unwanted advances instead of spurning them. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of this one. His normal reaction to two women groping him at a bar would be to go home with both of them and let them both get him out of their systems. But this was Ziva and Shepard and sleeping with either of them, never mind both of them, was completely out of the question. For one thing he would never be able to show his face at NCIS ever again, and Gibbs would kill him. Ziva was not only their teammate (and there were Rules about these things), she was like a daughter to him, and Jenny was his ex. Yup. Tony was definitely a dead man. He knew he was starting to laugh now, but it was a panicked laughter. He really didn’t know how to get himself out of this situation without making a huge deal, hurting both of their feelings when they were drunk off their asses, and without charges of sexual misconduct brought up against him. His repeated cries of “No” were being completely ignored.

Tony’s agile mind was trying to find a way to escape the groping hands and the hot breaths when a low growl came from off to the side, and then he found himself being yanked away from being the filling in the Ziva and Jenny sandwich. Gibbs’ hand was clamped around his wrist and the scowl on his face was enough to make Tony quake.

Shit, shit, shit. He was in trouble now. Gibbs was going to have his hide for messing with his surrogate daughter and his ex-girlfriend. Tony found himself cringing and mouthing Our Father to himself, in preparation for his impending evisceration.

“No means no!” Gibbs yelled. “That means you, Jenny, stop groping his ass, and for fuck’s sakes, Ziver, don’t touch his dick in public, especially when he’s trying to escape and screaming ‘no’ like a little girl!”

Tony opened his eyes and stared at Gibbs in shock. Gibbs was yelling at Ziva and Jenny. Gibbs was yelling at Ziva and Jenny and not at him! His green eyes were huge, as he stared at Gibbs, mouth open. Gibbs’ hand was hot, like a brand on his wrist, holding on tight. Tony immediately scooted himself behind Gibbs and peeked warily at the women.

“Go wait in my car,” Gibbs handed him his keys.

“Uh…” Tony’s brain seemed to be completely frozen.

“Go. Wait. In. My. Car. You’re done at this party,” Gibbs snarled.

“Yes, Boss. Right away, Boss,” Tony stammered, grabbing the keys and making a run for it. He went to his desk and grabbed his gun and badge and coat and backpack and scrambled, ignoring McGee when he tried to speak to him and probably ask some stupid question or other. Keeping his eyes down, Tony made a run for Gibbs’ car and slid into the passenger seat, hugging his things to him and immediately starting to chew on a fingernail. It took another five minutes before the driver door opened and Gibbs got in, slamming the door angrily behind him.

“Why didn’t you start the car and get it warm?” Gibbs growled at him. “And why the fuck didn’t you put your coat on? It’s fucking freezing!”

Tony realized with a start that he was still clutching his things, including his jacket, and Gibbs’ keys, and hadn’t actually done anything. Fingers trembling – he wasn’t sure with adrenalin or cold – he gave Gibbs the car keys.

Gibbs snatched it from him and started the car, starting the heater on immediately. “For fuck’s sake. Put your goddamned coat on!” he snarled.

“Right away, Boss,” Tony stammered as he dropped his backpack, gun and badge on the floor in the well by his feet, and awkwardly shrugged his coat on, sighing when he zipped himself up and was a lot less cold. He holstered his gun on his belt and slid his creds into his pocket, and sighed when Gibbs adjusted the fans so the heat was blowing directly on him. “Thanks, Boss.”

“Only you would get in trouble being groped in public, in a federal building, DiNozzo,” Gibbs grumbled, fixing Tony’s coat collar. “You ready to head out?”

“Fuck, yeah,” Tony nodded vehemently. “But maybe we can stop by a drive through before you drop me off? I’m starving.”

“What are the rules in my car?”

“No food in the car,” Tony sighed. “I promise I won’t eat in the car, Boss. But I swear, I’m starving.”

One corner of Gibbs’ lips quirked up in that wee tiny grin that he had. “Gotcha,” he rolled his eyes and tossed a warm paper bag into Tony’s lap.

Tony opened it and saw that Gibbs had piled in a bunch of his favorite hor d’oeuvres from the buffet table. A lot of them. It was a big bag. The aroma of shrimp puffs and onion tartlets and other goodies flooded Tony’s nostrils and he inhaled happily. “I fucking love you, Boss,” he gushed as he smiled down at the food. He looked up, smiling brightly at his boss.

“Even got you a to go cup,” Gibbs handed him a covered coffee cup and Tony took an experimental sniff.

“Champagne!” he exclaimed.

“Eat up.”

“In the car?” Tony’s eyes widened again.

“We’ll make it an exception since you were traumatized tonight,” Gibbs shook his head. “I can’t believe you let them trap you like that.”

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Tony sighed. “It was in public! I should have realized Ziva wasn’t just drinking champagne when she breathed on me. Grappa. Did you hear?”

Gibbs shook his head. They began driving and Tony was happily munching on his hor d’ouvres and sipping the champagne in his to go cup, and even at times feeding Gibbs a bite or two. Finally Tony looked around and realized that they weren’t anywhere close to his apartment.

“Uh, Boss,” he cleared his throat awkwardly. “This isn’t the way to my apartment?”

“No, it’s the way home. You’ll need more than just appetizers.”

“Cowboy steaks?” Tony brightened up at the thought of Gibbs making him his favorite steaks.

“Sure,” Gibbs nodded.

Tony gave Gibbs a happy grin and continued to munch on the appetizers. As per his usual habit, he began chatting about the case they just closed, bringing up several aspects of it, somehow managing to liken it to at least two movies with Gibbs grunting his responses and then they were pulling into Gibbs’ driveway. They got out and Tony was careful not to have spilled any crumbs on Gibbs’ upholstery. It wasn’t long before Tony was ensconced on Gibbs’ couch, a beer in his hand, steaks on the coffee table. They both had their knives out to cut into their steaks and Gibbs had put a football game on on his aging television. They clinked bottles and ate in relative silence – in that Tony kept a running commentary on the football game and Gibbs grunted his responses every so often. In short, it was pretty much business as usual for the two men for their customary quiet dinners together.

When they were done eating, Gibbs gave Tony a long look. Tony lifted an eyebrow in question.

“How come you weren’t responding to Jenny and Ziver?” he asked, surprising Tony with his question. Tony had been geared up to talk more about the case or the game they were watching, not his close brush with a public sexual assault at the holiday party.

“What?” he asked stupidly.

“I was watching you and you weren’t even the tiniest bit hard,” Gibbs’ blue eyes flicked to Tony’s crotch, and Tony felt the sudden urge to either cover his crotch with his hand or cross his legs or something.

“What?” he repeated, unable to think of anything more intelligent to say.

Gibbs sighed noisily. “You. At the party. With Jenny and Ziva mauling you. Why weren’t you into it?”

Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. He chugged the rest of his beer and placed the bottle on the coffee table. He was about to make his exit when he realized that he’d come to Gibbs’ house in Gibbs’ car. So he did not have his own car with him and so he could either call for a cab and wait the half hour or so before one would get to Gibbs’ house to pick him up, or he could get up and walk home. Which might take a really long time given that he lived in Downtown DC and Gibbs lived all the way out in Arlington.

“Why do you care?” he finally gasped out.

Gibbs shrugged. “You and Ziver. You know. Will they? Won’t they? You’ve got to know there’s a pool out there predicting when you two would fuck.”

“You know about the pool?” Tony gasped.

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

“Of course you know about the pool,” Tony sighed. “Well. I just let people, Ziva included, think the whole ‘will they, won’t they’ bullshit is true. The answer is always, always, no. Truth is, Ziva’s a ninja and an assassin. And personally, I have no desire to be killed in my sleep, orgasm or no orgasm,” he shrugged. “I don’t know what her orders might be from her father these days. Kill me and she can advance up to be your Senior Field Agent? Kill you next? I don’t know. She’s way too good at what she does and I’m not letting my dick anywhere near that. Let her go seduce some other sucker at their own peril. And Jenny? She’s Director Shepard, no matter what the fuck she wants me to call her. So, no. Plus she’s your ex.”

“So?”

“I don’t need you killing me because I slept with your ex when she’s all drunk and thinking I’m the closest slut at hand she can use,” Tony shuddered. “And if you don’t mind, I’m going to call for a cab and wait outside. Thanks for the dinner,” he started to stand. He knew that he was sounding snippy, but he didn’t understand why he was justifying why he didn’t sleep with a team mate and co-worker, and with his boss’s boss who was also his boss’s ex-girlfriend to his boss who, never mind all of that, had a rule about not sleeping with co-workers. And he didn’t need this kind of grief. All he’d wanted was to eat those appetizers, drink a little champagne, maybe chat with some of the other NCIS people that he never got to see much, and then go home and get some well deserved rest.

“Wait,” Gibbs’ hand shot out and clamped onto his wrist again.

Tony stifled a sigh and sat back down. “What?” he asked sullenly.

“So you really have no feelings for Ziva?” Gibbs asked.

“She’s my teammate. I’d die for her.”

“I mean, the kind that the pool is betting on.”

Tony sighed aloud and scrubbed his face. “No,” he finally said. “I don’t want to sleep with her. I flirt with her, sure, but I flirt with just about everybody,” he winked saucily at Gibbs then. “Doesn’t mean I want to sleep with everybody.”

“And Shepard?”

Tony shuddered. “She’s a cobra, Boss. No offense, but I do _not_ know how you had a relationship with her before this,” he made a face. “Pretty to look at, but no, I’d prefer not to get poisoned to death. Thanks.”

“You seem to have this idea that some women might want to kill you, DiNozzo,” Gibbs grinned.

“Am I wrong?” Tony opened his eyes wide in feigned outrage.

Gibbs had to chuckle at that. “That’s fair. What the hell brought all that on with those two tonight?”

Tony threw up his hands. “I don’t know! I think copious amounts of grappa was involved? I was happily grazing at the buffet and then they had to come over and destroy my happy place. I learned as a kid to stay away from the mistletoe but now I have to stay away from the buffet table too? That’s just not right,” he pouted. “Thanks for bringing me the doggy bag though. I really appreciated that. And for the dinner.”

Gibbs nodded and smiled. Tony sighed happily and leaned back. “I should probably still call for a cab though so I can go home and get my beauty sleep,” he yawned through the words. “Those reports won’t write themselves tomorrow morning.”

“Always welcome to take the guest room.”

“Aw, I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have tonight, Boss,” Tony grinned at him. “You did just rescue me from being groped by two of the scariest women at NCIS tonight.”

“My helpless damsel in distress,” Gibbs shook his head, still smiling. “Guest room’s yours.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Tony said gratefully before he fluttered his eyelashes. “And now I suppose I can retire to my tower, Sir Knight,” he simpered, before he grinned and yawned again. “I am ready for bed though.”

Gibbs nodded. “Good night then.”

Tony grabbed his dish and empty bottle but Gibbs shook his head. “I got it. Go on and get to bed.”

Tony gave him a look.

“It’s one fucking dish, DiNozzo. Ain’t gonna kill me to do two dishes instead of one.”

Tony smiled then. He stood and headed to the stairs. But he had one more question before he went. “Hey Boss?” he whirled around and was surprised to see that Gibbs’ eyes were trained on him. Maybe even on his ass.

Gibbs grunted a response. At least that was normal, for him.

“Why’d you come rescue me?” he asked, before he lost his nerve.

Gibbs shrugged, eyes moving up to his face. “No means no, no matter who’s sayin’ it,” he said gruffly.

Tony smiled, touched by his boss’s concern, although now he wondered what it meant that Gibbs had been looking at his crotch to gauge whether or not he was interested in the proceedings. He frowned as he turned back towards the stairs.

“What?” Gibbs asked. “What’s on your mind, DiNozzo?”

“Nothing,” Tony mumbled.

“Doesn’t sound like a ‘nothing’ to me.”

Tony whirled around. “I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with the fact that you were looking at…” he gestured to his crotch, “to determine my level of… arousal before you decided to come rescue me.”

Surprisingly, Gibbs blushed in response.

“What? What’s with that look?” Tony asked, suspicious now. Gibbs had been staring at his ass not a minute ago, too. He resisted the urge to cover his genitals with his hands. Gibbs was his goddamned boss! Gibbs had seen him naked a million times. And Tony had seen Gibbs naked a million times, and appreciated his form every single time. But that didn’t mean that Tony expected Gibbs to jump him, too. Or maybe Gibbs had been hitting the grappa with the ladies, and his eyesight was going after all, maybe Tony was starting to look like a woman or something. He resolved to increase his gym time and work on his pecs. In case he was developing man boobs or something. Good god. Please, not the man boobs, he suppressed a shudder at the thought.

“Just…” Gibbs tried to make some excuse but petered out. He stared at Tony in silence, still blushing.

“For fuck’s sakes! You drank the grappa, too?” Tony exclaimed.

Gibbs couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “No, no. No grappa. All I’ve had tonight are these beers with you.”

“So what gives?” Tony was definitely suspicious now. “Why were you looking at my junk tonight?”

Gibbs cleared his throat. “I always look at you,” he said softly.

“What do you mean?”

Gibbs gave him a significant look, eyes roving up and down, before he focused those glittering sapphire blue eyes on Tony’s eyes, his lips, and then slowly moving them down to look at his crotch. Tony could feel his dick starting to twitch in response to the smoldering look Gibbs was giving him. “I mean,” Gibbs’ voice was an octave lower than usual, “that I _always_ look at you, DiNozzo. And I always like what I see. I can always tell when you like the attention being paid to you. You can fake your facial expressions, but you can’t fake a hard on. Not yet, at least. Tonight I didn’t see you getting even the slightest bit hard when Ziva’s hands were on your dick, and I could tell you weren’t playing when you said no.”

“Always?” Tony’s voice had gone husky too. “What do you mean always? Do you mean you always _look_ at me?” He looked down at Gibbs’ crotch and then his own, his dick definitely starting to sit up and take note of the conversation.

Gibbs nodded slowly, staring now right into his eyes. “Always,” he drawled the word.

“And you like what you see?” Tony’s heart was pounding in his chest and he was starting to get light headed.

“Always,” Gibbs repeated, giving him another smoldering look.

“Oh,” he said faintly.

Gibbs grinned, turning away. “I know I’m not your type, though, DiNozzo, so you go on to bed now. Before you have fend off unwanted advances from three people tonight.”

Tony cleared his throat. “What do you mean you’re not my type?”

Gibbs looked up with what looked suspiciously like hope in his eyes. “What?”

“Who says you’re not my type?” Tony shrugged. “I just always figured that _I_ wasn’t _your_ type. You know. Lack of red hair and no vagina. Things like that.”

Gibbs snorted and rolled his eyes.

“So what are you saying? You don’t mind dick?” Tony frowned.

“I don’t mind _your_ dick. I sure seem to look at it a lot,” Gibbs muttered. “Now go on and get to bed before you have to fight me off like you did Ziva and Shepard tonight.”

“Maybe I don’t want to fight you off,” Tony said suggestively.

Gibbs gave him a look and Tony stared back intently, trying to convey his feelings through his eyes. “As I recall, you screamed like a little girl earlier tonight.”

“Oh, I plan to be screaming my head off later,” Tony’s voice was husky and his meaning unmistakable. “And you’ll love it when I do.”

Gibbs scrambled to his feet and before Tony knew quite what was happening, he’d been backed right into the railing of the stairs and Gibbs’ lips were on his, kissing him. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth and kissed him back, struggling to free an arm from where Gibbs had him pinned. He finally wriggled an arm free, snaked it around Gibbs’ neck and pulled him even closer, opening his legs so Gibbs could settle in between them more comfortably. Gibbs moaned as his tongue explored Tony’s mouth, and he sucked and nibbled at the younger man, and Tony’s cock instantly hardened at the rough timbre of Gibbs’ moan.

They finally pulled apart, and Tony saw that Gibbs’ eyes were dilated with arousal. He could feel Gibbs’ erection rubbing deliciously against his. Gibbs pulled away and held his hand out, inclining his head up the stairs. Tony nodded, smiled, took Gibbs’ hand and they went up to the guest room together to explore this new facet of whatever the hell it was that they were now.

And later, when Tony did, in fact scream due to what Gibbs was doing to him, he did not scream like a little girl. He screamed Gibbs name as he came. And as he had predicted, Gibbs did love it when he screamed.

In the morning, Tony was awakened with Gibbs’ mouth on his cock, and then things progressed quickly, and he wasn’t even fully awake before Gibbs was slipping his hard cock into his body again and thrusting, while one lubed hand fisted his shaft in time. Gibbs began thrusting harder and faster and hammering into Tony’s prostate and when Tony came, again he couldn’t help but scream Gibbs’ name as he spurted hard all over Gibbs’ hand, splashing Gibbs’ belly and his own, Gibbs following him with a harsh cry.

When they stopped panting and Gibbs pushed himself off of Tony, he smiled down at the younger man, running a hand through Tony’s hair and caressing his cheek and jaw.

“Good morning, darlin’,” his tone was tender.

“Definitely,” Tony couldn’t help but grin back in satisfaction. “It’s a great morning during the most wonderful time of the year.”

Gibbs chuckled at that. “You doing good?”

Tony nodded and leaned up to kiss Gibbs again. “Very,” he muttered into Gibbs’ mouth. “I’m doing very good.”

“I’m going to have to remember to keep the windows closed when it gets warmer,” Gibbs said, a propos of nothing.

“What?” Tony was confused.

Gibbs’ smile widened. “If you’re gonna scream my name every time you come, I’m going to have to keep those fucking windows closed so we don’t scare the neighbors every time we have sex, darlin’,” he shook his head. “Lucky it’s winter or they would’ve heard us going at it.”

Tony was silent for a moment. “So, you’re thinking we can keep doing this till it gets warm enough to open the windows?” he asked hesitantly.

“Darlin’, if you think I’m going to let you go now that I have you, you’re sadly mistaken,” Gibbs began mouthing little kisses all over Tony’s face – his forehead, his eyelid, his nose, his cheek, his lips. “Unless you _want_ me to let you go?”

“I don’t want you to let me go,” Tony breathed.

“Good,” Gibbs smiled again and Tony thought, this was the most he’d ever seen his team lead smile in all the years that they’d known each other. “House gets stuffy in the summer with the windows closed though.”

“I can keep it down if you want,” Tony suggested.

“House needs new AC anyway,” Gibbs’ lips were moving down the long column of Tony’s neck now, making Tony gasp as he sucked a bruise at the sensitive spot under his ear. “I like hearing you,” he told the younger man.

“Good to know,” Tony panted and gasped when Gibbs repeated the move. “Gonna need a turtleneck to cover that up,” he mumbled when Gibbs pulled away.

“I don’t care if it can be seen. Maybe I want people to know you’re mine.”

Tony’s smile lit up the room.

They stayed in bed, kissing and nuzzling each other, touching and exploring until the alarm clock went off. Gibbs got out of bed and pulled Tony out and they shared a shower, ate bowls of cereal before heading in to work. Tony hadn’t been wrong the previous night. Those reports weren’t going to write themselves, after all.

Gibbs, McGee and Tony were finishing up their reports when Ziva finally dragged herself in, sunglasses on her face, looking quite bedraggled.

“Do not speak to me,” she whispered to them as she slid into her chair.

Tony and McGee snickered into their hands.

“Just get your reports to me ASAP,” Gibbs barked, albeit at a lower volume than usual.

“Of course, Gibbs,” Ziva sighed as she began work.

They were sitting quietly when an HR representative walked up to Tony’s desk. “We would like to speak with you privately,” she said softly. Tony recognized her – Jolene Baker, who worked for the dragon lady of HR herself, Delores Bromstead, whose attention nobody in their right mind tried to attract.

Tony’s heart pounded and he paled. “I haven’t done anything,” he gasped. “Have I?”

“We would like to speak to you about an incident that was reported last night,” Jolene said quietly, her tone firm.

“What? N-nothing happened!” Tony gave Gibbs a scared look. “Who’s complaining about me?”

“Please come with me,” Jolene repeated calmly.

Tony closed his eyes and sighed wearily. Shit. He was going to get in trouble for sexually harassing Ziva and the Director herself. He should have known that his happiness with Gibbs was going to be short lived. He quickly saved his report and emailed it to Gibbs so that at least Gibbs would have it in case he had to be escorted out of the agency. Just in case, he grabbed his wallet. He was reaching for his credentials and gun when Jolene put a hand out to stop him.

“You don’t need to get all your things, Agent DiNozzo,” she said gently.

Tony gave Gibbs another panicked look. He was in deeper shit than he thought. They were going to kick him out without his creds and weapon, looked like. He swallowed with difficulty and nodded.

Gibbs was walking towards his desk when Jolene turned and told Gibbs, “This is a private discussion.”

“I’m his team lead. I’m coming with him,” he growled back.

“I’m afraid not, Agent Gibbs. Agent DiNozzo, please come this way.”

Tony gave Gibbs another panicked look but obediently followed Jolene, who was blithely ignoring Gibbs’ words. But when he tried to get on the elevator with them, she put her hand out.

“Please take any complaints to my boss, Miss Bromstead,” she told him politely.

Gibbs was yelling “It’ll be OK, DiNozzo! I’ll take care of this,” as the elevator doors closed and Tony had no doubt that Gibbs would be storming Shepard’s office right away.

He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, silently following Jolene into a conference room where Delores Bromstead and a man he didn’t recognize were seated. Jolene gestured to a chair across the table from the two, and he seated himself, keeping his expression calm even though his heart was pounding so hard he wondered how it was no one else could hear it.

“Do you know why you’ve been asked to this meeting?” Miss Bromstead asked him.

Tony shook his head.

Bromstead sighed noisily. “This is my counterpart from the FBI, John Hansen.”

“From the FBI?” Tony’s eyes widened. “What do the FBI think I’ve done now?” Tony shook his head automatically when Jolene offered him a cup of coffee. He was way too keyed up for coffee now. Although, why would HR offer him coffee if they were about to fire him or have him arrested by the FBI again?

“Agent DiNozzo, please be advised that you can elect to have an attorney present,” Hansen informed him.

“What have I been accused of?” Tony asked, keeping his voice calm. “I don’t know why I’m here and I haven’t done anything.”

Miss Bromstead sighed. “Agent DiNozzo,” she started, her voice was soft but her expression stern. Tony tried not to quake in his boots. “Last night at the NCIS Holiday Party, you were involved in an incident, were you not?”

“I _didn’t_ do anything!” Tony denied it. “I was trying to mind my own business!”

“Agent DiNozzo, nobody is accusing you of anything,” Bromstead told him. “We received reports – several of them – that you were inappropriately touched during last night’s Holiday Party. In full view of the room. You did not instigate it. You repeatedly said no and tried to remove yourself from the situation without harming anyone. Is that not correct?”

Tony’s mouth fell open. “What?” was all he could say.

“Mr Hansen is here from the FBI as the allegation includes that your teammate Ziva David, and the director of our organization, Jennifer Shepard, cornered you and groped you while they were intoxicated, in full view of the party. Is that correct?” Bromstead asked again.

“ _What?_ ” Tony repeated. He couldn’t believe his ears. They weren’t blaming him for this? They _weren’t_ blaming him for this!

“We want to discuss bringing up charges against Ziva David and Jennifer Shepard,” Hansen told him solemnly. “No one should be subjected to such treatment at any point in time. No means no.”

It was like Hansen had had a chat with Gibbs or something. Tony shook his head. “Oh my god. I don’t want to bring charges on anyone,” he babbled. “They were just really really drunk. It’s fine. I’m totally fine. Gibbs got me out of there quickly.”

“He did,” Bromstead said approvingly. “After he removed you from the situation, he reprimanded both David and Shepard before he left. I assume he took you home?”

“Uh, yes?” Tony blew out a long breath, trying not to think about the delicious things that Gibbs had done to him after he’d taken him home. Last night and this morning. His ass had that delicious ache from their activities. “Look, this is just a misunderstanding. They were drunk and…”

“Being intoxicated is not an excuse,” Bromstead said sternly. “I was there. I saw what happened with my own eyes.”

“Oh,” Tony licked his lips trying to figure out a way out of this. “Look. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“ _You’re_ not the one causing trouble,” Bromstead assured him. “You were the one being victimized.”

“I’m not a _victim!_ Speak to Gibbs. He’ll have some ideas on how to move forward with this!” Tony stammered. “Come on! Please! This will ruin _my_ career as well as theirs! We have to get to some other solution other than pressing charges. It didn’t get any further than what you saw last night!”

Bromstead and Hansen looked at each other. They sighed. But before they could say anything there was a loud bang as the door slammed open and Gibbs strode in.

“HR is with the Director,” he growled. “And you’re in here with my Agent. What the fuck is going on?”

“Boss! They’re saying…”

“Be quiet!” Bromstead growled at Tony and he shut up right away, eyes wide with panic.

Gibbs was invited to sit and Jolene closed the conference room door. After Gibbs was brought up to speed, he turned and gave Tony a questioning look. Tony shook his head, eyes wide. No. Do not make this worse, his green eyes begged Gibbs.

Gibbs sighed. “Let me guess, DiNozzo doesn’t want to press charges? And you want him to?”

The HR staff nodded. “We cannot let this stand with no consequences,” Bromstead said solemnly. “What if instead of Agent DiNozzo, that had been one of the younger agents? What if it had happened in private where the agent would be unable to say no or make their escape, and there would be no witnesses? We are a federal agency. This is unacceptable behavior.”

Gibbs sighed. HR had a point. HR had a very good point.

“But I’m fine!” Tony protested. “And it’s _just_ me. People will just think I deserve it or I asked for it, what with my reputation.”

“A person’s reputation shouldn’t have any bearing on how he or she is treated while at work, or anywhere else, Agent DiNozzo,” Bromstead told him. “And despite your supposed reputation, I’ve spoken to many different people at NCIS and although you do have a flirtatious nature, you have never delved into anything inappropriate or made any unwelcome advances. I spoke to many people last night after the incident, and many people are upset on your behalf.”

“Really?” Tony bit his bottom lip, completely baffled by that statement. “Huh.”

“Even the youngest employee in the secretarial pool called you ‘rambunctious but very sweet’, and up and down NCIS, you’ve been someone always ready to help, always willing to take on an extra shift or work a holiday, or look at someone else’s case file without asking for anything in return. The staff of the Evidence Lockup apparently have your cell number in case they get a flat tire or need any kind of assistance outside of work. Is that correct?” Bromstead asked.

“W-well,” Tony looked afraid. “They’re the Baggy Bunnies, and they’re always so nice. They flirt back and laugh at my dumb jokes. And this one time, Beatrice’s car got stuck in the snow, and I was driving by so I stopped and waited with her while AAA came to tow her car and then drove her home. And so I gave her my number and said if she was ever in a pickle again, I’d be happy to come out and do what I can. A-a-and she gave my number to the other Baggy Bunnies, and I told them all to call if they were ever stuck or in some situation that ever made them nervous and needed back up. I mean. It’s not just agents who need back up,” Tony knew he was babbling but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“Perhaps you should refer to them as Evidence Lockup?” Bromstead glowered at him.

“Sorry. I know, that’s completely disrespectful of me. Fuck, this is another reason why I can’t press charges!” Tony tried again. “Can’t we just pretend this didn’t happen? Please?”

“It’s not a precedent we can afford to set, Agent DiNozzo,” Bromstead gentled her tone. “Even if you were in a relationship with either the Director or Officer David, you very clearly and repeatedly said ‘no’ and that is final. What if it had been Beatrice, being groped by her superiors?”

“Beatrice should totally press charges!” Tony exclaimed. “She’s not a trained field agent! But I am. I can take care of myself.”

“It’s not a matter of taking care of yourself, Agent DiNozzo,” Hansen said, his tone also gentle. “You know this.”

“Fuck!” Tony buried his face in his hands.

Bromstead and Hansen sighed and Gibbs put a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“If I may make a suggestion,” Gibbs said softly.

Bromstead, Hansen and Baker gave him a questioning look. Gibbs waited until Tony looked up at him, expression bleak, and gave him a reassuring smile.

“I have a proposal…” Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A week later, Tony found himself sitting on Gibbs couch sipping a beer and looking back on the past week in amazement. Per Gibbs’ proposal and upon further discussion with HR, Shepard and David had been sent back to FLETC for several different classes, including classes on sexual harassment, conduct unbecoming a federal agent, and several other remedial classes. Not just for one session, but for the full three months. In addition, they had each had to issue a public apology to Tony, which had embarrassed him greatly, but he understood why HR needed for this to happen. And on top of this, Gibbs’ suggestion had included that Ziva and Shepard each complete 500 hours of community service in a battered women’s shelter, to really understand the full implications of what could happen if someone did not take ‘no’ for an answer. Both of their records would be noted with the incident and if HR received one more complaint, everything would be moot and their employment would be terminated and they would face legal action.

Jenny had originally wanted to fight the allegations, but when she saw the recording of how she and Ziva had behaved towards Tony, she realized that these consequences were very light. She watched the security video again, and closed her eyes. If she had been a man, and Tony a woman, she wouldn’t have been given a second chance. Gibbs had sat there and baldly told her that if it had been anyone other than Tony, she wouldn’t have been given a second chance. And only because nobody could talk Tony into pressing charges. But if she refused to comply, Gibbs would make sure that Tony did press charges.

And Ziva had been told that if she disagreed with the ruling, or refused to complete the punishment, she was free to return to Israel and would be unwelcome at any federal agency within the US. Although she tried to appeal to Gibbs, he simply told her that her behavior had been unacceptable and if it was up to him, charges would have been brought against her. And that it was only because Tony refused to press charges that the consequences were so light.

Both women had publicly apologized to Tony and were starting their FLETC classes with the new semester in the new year. But they were both already starting to work at the battered women’s shelter. Tony had expected to be teased or harassed about making a fuss, but he found instead that members of NCIS were being openly supportive of him, from the secretarial pool, the Baggy Bunnies, the technical analysts, and up to the other field agents. Support for him had been overwhelming. Enough that he felt certain that he wouldn’t need to avoid the buffet table, although he would still be steering clear of the mistletoe, at any future holiday party.

Tony hadn’t been quite sure how to take it, but Gibbs had also been there for him, always supportive, always a quiet rock for him to rely on. And that was the weirdest part, because right there in that conference room that morning, Gibbs had disclosed that he and Tony were in a romantic relationship. Bromstead and Hansen had asked Baker to escort Gibbs out and they had questioned Tony closely to ensure that he wasn’t in any way being coerced or forced into a relationship with his boss, and Tony’s answers had convinced them that he was a willing party to this relationship. And so, not only were Ziva and Shepard in the doghouse and working to atone for their transgressions, Tony and Gibbs were now in a relationship that was sanctioned by HR. They had chosen to keep their relationship quiet for the time being, not wanting even more gossip for the NCIS mill, but Tony still couldn’t get over how either he went home to Gibbs’ house after work, or Gibbs would come to his apartment after work. They were spending all their free time together, and Gibbs was talking about building him a new bed for his apartment, one that was bigger than the twin that he currently had. And the sex that he was having – with Gibbs – was truly some of the best sex he’d ever had. And he, Tony DiNozzo had had a _lot_ of sex. Their relationship, although still very new, already felt stronger and better than his relationship with Wendy or Jeanne had been.

It was bizarre and surreal. But it was his life. Tony shook his head in disbelief at what had happened over the past week, staring at the TV and not taking any of it in. But when Gibbs came back, bringing plates of steak and leaning down to kiss him thoroughly before heading back to the kitchen to grab fresh beers, everything else faded away, and Tony knew that he was where he wanted to be. It was, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed this one!
> 
> The music I listened to includes:  
> * [The Most Wonderful Time of the Year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMUHj8xJhnc) (Harry Connick Jr)  
> * [The Most Wonderful Time of the Year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI7RCNHnPms) (Pentatonix)  
> * [Star Wars Theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLAx3VDX7g) (Jimmy Fallon, The Roots & The cast of The Force Awakens - a capella)
> 
> I had meant for this story to be more light-hearted than it turned out, but given that sexual harassment/assault is no joking matter, RPD and I felt that perhaps we couldn't just sweep it under the carpet, like it actually is done so many times IRL. Hopefully you won't be too upset by how the story ended.
> 
> Red_Pink_Dots, you are as always my Elton, my partner in crime, and my unflagging cheerleader. Sorry I didn't get a chance to run the ending by you so I hope you like how it turned out! <3 <3 
> 
> Thank you all for your support, comments and kudos! I hope you enjoy this Tibbs holiday story :D
> 
> <3  
> -j  
> xoxo

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934188) by [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots)




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